Sign



sept. 2 1924. 1,507,308

T. N. EVENS SIGN Filed Jan. 26 1924 Patented Sept. 2, 1924.

THOMAS NELSON EVENE', OE SAFFRON XETAJDEN, ENGLANE.

SIGN.

Application -led January 26, 1924.

T 0 all whom t may conce/rn.'

Be it known that l, TrroMAs Nansen EvENs, a British subject, and res-ident of Treiliddean, Mount tPleasa'nt Road, Saffron 'llfaldein Essex, England, have invented cer- -taizn new and useful Improvements in Sig-ns, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable others skilled in the `art to which it appertains to .make and use the same.

This invention relates to Iloose letter signs, notice boards and the like of the kind in which grooves .are provided to receive supports, or as I will call them carrying bars, on the backs of fthe letters or other characters and Joy which the Asaid characters can be arranged in ylines to form the desired announcements, the `said characters being supported by stems from ithe carrying :bars said stems passing out through slot-like openings from the grooves.

It is `desirable that the appearance of the lsign or board shall be neat, that the carrying means for the letters, etc., shall be inconspicuous and that the repeated changing ot the letters, etc., shall not `be injurious to the base or frame on which they are mounted.

Amongst the objects of my invention are to be able, when desired. to make the base `or frame very thin, to hold the character rigid, to prevent the carrying vbar `from scratching any ordinary visible .part of the groove and vto generally enhance the appear- .a'nce of the sign or 4board as a whole.

lt has been proposed to line the grooves with felt or other resilient nfiaterialv in or on which the stem of the letter obtains Agrip by reason .of the resilient nature oi the material and in some cases the groove has been deeper than the length of the stem so fthat the stem does not reach and consequently cannot reach ythe back or innermost part of the groove.

l My yinvention A*does not refer to grooves :having such linings or -fixing means and differs .therefrom in :that the grooves 1e without felt, springs or the like but the back of the groove opposite the slot is recessed in relation to the rest of the groove or the back ot the carrying bar is recessed so as not to rub the back ofthe groove, in addition to which the slot into the groove is wider than the thickness of the stem so that the edges of the slot and the side of the stem are out of contact with each other. For example, the carrying bar (which is pret'- Serial No. 688,787.

erably oiZ the self spacing type, that is to say it is wider than the character it supports and thus spaces it in relation `to adjoining characters) may 'be of a cross sectional shape like the capital letter I or straight centrally and provided with a bulb or increased thicki ness ateach end. rilternatively the carrying bar may be of say a flat or disc like shape, say rectangular in plan and the 'back of the groove vmay be depressed so that the lsaid bar will not touch it. Those parts of the carrying `bar which are not covered by the character where it crosses the slot may be cut away and the stems from the carrying lbar to the character may be arranged behind the parts of the character which cross the slots in much the same manner as described in ymy cited specilication.

l/Vith this construction the tace o' the trame or hase and the back and edges of the groove can be ot the saine or of different colour and repeated movement ot the characters will not scratch any of the visibley parts particularly as the stems are long 8 enough to hold the chaacter away from the face of the Jframe or bar. y

The slot may be arranged outl of the centre of the groove and the stems positioned in corresponding manner on the character so as to ensure the latter being right way up when inserted.

rThe grooves are preferably of narrow rectangular cross-sectional shape and may be built up ot sheet metal 'by a folding. rolling` or other process such as die cast or extruded leaving the slot along one side.

I will now describe my invention with reference to the examples shown in the accompanying drawings i-n which l an end view of a groove a provided as by folding sheet meta-l Z) to an appropriate shape; the edges of the metal being spaced apart at o to provide a slot tor the stero ot the letter or other character. front View of the letter with its carrying Fig. 2 is a bar and voi which an edge view is seen in Fig. 1. In this case the letter E is selected and is shown at l. This letter is separated by stem 2 from the carrying bar 3, said bar having bulbous ends 4, t so arranged that the central part of the carrying bar is spaced away from the inside surface of the' metal o, except at the upper and lower edges of the groove. By this construction it will be clear that any ordinary movements oi the carrying bar up and down the groove will not scratch the said inside face of the metal b, and, because the stem 2 is distinctly narrower than the slot c, and the carrying bar fits close to the top and the bottom of the groove, the said stem cannot deface the edges of the slot.

ln Fig. 2 it will be seen that the carrying bar 3 is cut away at 5 and 6, so as not to show through the slot when the letter is in position. It will also be observed that the carrying bar is of greater width than the letter and therefore serves, in known manner as a spacing bar for the letter.

A modification is shown in Fig. 3 in which the character 7 supported by stem S is attached to a flat carrying bar 9 which is unable to scratch or otherwise spoil the inner face of the metal d which is spaced away from the bar by depressing the metal. In this case the slot is again wider than the stem 8. In Fig. -l the construction is much like that shown in Fig. 1 but the slot e is out of the centre of the folded metal 7 which forms the groove and the stem 10 of the character 11 is out of the centre of the character with the result that the letter cannot be put in wrong way up. It will be obvious that thel invention can be carried out in numerous forms within the scope of the fol lowing claims.

l. A loose letter sign of the kind comprising a grooved base the face of which has a slot opening into .the groove and a plurality of characters having stems to which are attached carrying bars adapted to [it f into and to be slidable in the groove with the stems extending through the slot, the carrying bars engaging and being held in position through contact with the opposing walls of the grooved base, the said grooves being recessed opposite the slot so that the bottoms of the recesses are spaced away from the carrying bars.

2. A loose letter sign of the kind comprising a grooved base the face of which has a slot opening into the groove and a plurality of characters having stems to which are attached carrying bars adapted to iitinto and to be slidable in the groove with the stems `extending through the slot, the carrying bars engaging and being held in positionl through contact with the opposing walls of the grooved base, the said carrying bars being spaced awayfrom the face of the groove opposite and throughout the full width of the slot. Y

3. A loose letter sign of the kind comprising a grooved base the face of which has a slot opening into the groove and a plurality of characters having stems to which are attached carrying bars adapted p to iit into and to be slidable in the groove with the stems extending through the slot with the feature that the said groove is recessed opposite the slot so that the bottoms of the recesses are spaced away from the carrying bars, and that the sides of the slot are held spaced away from the stems. 4. A loose letter sign of the kind comprising a grooved base the faceof which has a slot opening into the groove and a plurality of characters having stems to which are attached carrying bars adapted to fit into and to be slidable in the groove with the stems extending through the slot with the feature that the said carrying bars are held in position by opposing walls of the grooved base and are spaced away from the face of the groove opposite and throughout the width of the slot, and that the sides of the slot are held spaced away from the stems.

5. A loose letter sign, comprising a base formed with a groove and a slot opening into the groove, of a letter having a stem of less vertical dimension than the width of the slot, and carrying bars secured to the stem and adapted to be held in the groove by contact with the walls thereof, the wall of the groove rearwardly of the slot being in contact with the carrying bars beyond the plane of the slot and being spaced from contact with the carrying bars throughout the width ofthe slot.

6. A loose letter sign, comprising a base formed with a groove and a slot opening into the groove, of a letter having a stem of less vertical dimension than the width of the slot, and carrying Vbars secured to the stem and adapted to be held in the groove by contact with the walls thereof,the wall of the groove rearwardly of the slot being in contact with the carrying bars beyond the plane of the slot and being spaced from contact with the carrying bars throughout the width of the slot, said contact between the carrying bars and groove walls serving to maintain the stems free of contact with the edges of the slot.

7. A sign comprising a grooved base having a slot opening through one wall thereof, of a letter havinga stem of a size to extend through the slot, and a carrying member adapted to Contact with opposed walls of the groove, said contact. supporting the letter in position rela-tive to the base, one of said contacting walls of the groove being spaced from contact with the carry- VTHOMAS NELSON EvENS. 

